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September 28, 2026 8:00am by Kokila Patel

General Debate 28 September 2026

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General Debate

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NeverMindTheBollocks

A combo of National’s current polling and the Party vote ACT / Electorate vote National meme could easily see zero List members for National. That would be the end of Nicola Willis. Gerry too would be gone. Paul Goldsmith is unlikely to win Epsom against David Seymour, while Chris Bishop may well lose out in Hutt South. These are senior Ministers (plus Gerry).

It looks like National have belatedly woken up to this possibility, with John Key admonishing National voters not to Party vote for minority Parties that will “bring in MPs you’ve never heard of”.

The question is, will National be prepared to dial back its electorate campaigning in selected (low majority) seats, to help Nicola at least make it back to parliament?

https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/22/how-a-national-election-win-could-wipe-out-luxons-top-ministers/
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September 28, 2026 8:00am
- Ian Boag
  
  The question is, will National be prepared to dial back its electorate campaigning in selected (low majority) seats, to help Nicola at least make it back to parliament?
  
  If Nicola gets in on the list it will be because there is no overhang. So the split vote becomes sort of pointless – unless you think it is a good idea to have an electorate member for a different party to who you are party-voting for.
  
  Worked for ACT ….
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:21am
  - septic skeptic
    
    Don’t see why the down ticks. If the objective is an overhang then there must be zero National list MPs. If the objective is to have Willis, Goldsmith and Bishop in key portfolios then it sound like you are a true blue National supporter and might as well go with two ticks blue.
    Personally, I want meaningful change and that implies a strong ACT presence and some new blood in key portfolios. Fortunately that position is also the most likely to keep Labour/Green/TPM/TOP from power if it does result in an overhang.
    Final thought – our version of MMP is a stupid system!
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:25pm
    - Quail
      
      SS .
      Your final thought is 100% correct!
      
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      September 28, 2026 1:41pm
    - Notsofast
      
      Not least because the 5% threshold means a gamble for 5% of votes, highly significant and ridiculous.
      Although TOP on 4.9% sounds great.
      
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      September 28, 2026 6:00pm
  - rouppe
    
    unless you think it is a good idea to have an electorate member for a different party to who you are party-voting for
    
    That’s the whole bloody point of MMP.
    
    You can vote for an effective MP in your electorate who is not from a party whose policies you overall prefer.
    
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    September 28, 2026 2:15pm
- Simon
  
  Normally a clean out of the dead wood would assist a party. But in National’s case the actual party itself is dead wood. Vote ACT or NZ First.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:22am
  - Skottowe
    
    Simon: I agree with your assessment of the Natz. But for voting, ACT, say I. Long experience as a voter tells me not to believe anything at all promised by NZ first. If he’s elected, Peters does what benefits him. Or so it has looked to me, over many years
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:14am
    - sungsamning
      
      I can see what you are getting at. The trouble is that a third coalition party is needed to make up the numbers. WP won’t live for ever. Nor will Shane Jones. So, a new leader might be more action oriented. Then there is the problem of the two minor parties only being able to get a few policies each enacted.
      
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      September 28, 2026 1:18pm
    - Ra Henare
      
      Rather than a “feelz”” response. re NZFirst.
      
      Can I suggest you ask your favourite LLM AI platform to list for both ACT & NZ First.
      Their pre election promises and which ones were achieved in full or in part and those not.
      
      Think you might be surprised.
      
      PS. I dont vote NZFIRST, but I have followed Winston’s career since he was first elected as MP For Tauranga and I had dealing with him as a member of our local school(Matua) Council.
      
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      September 28, 2026 4:50pm
  - Flossie
    
    I agree they’ve been a huge disappointment, but if National is not in the mix then you’ve got a left block, including TPM, Greens and probably OP.
    No thanks.
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:49am
    - imalwaysright
      
      Yes, its basically a choice between Labour and National.
      
      None of the minor parties will get more votes than either of them, so their only relevance will be when they negotiate to join a coalition that, in reality, are foregone conclusions.
      
      What would be wrong with the incumbent Coalition saying they are willing to continue to work together, and let the voters decide in what proportion?
      
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      September 28, 2026 1:38pm
- Frank the tank
  
  Sans Bishop none of those individuals are worth feeding.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:22am
- Blog-aholic
  
  It is a catch 22.
  MP’s we have never heard of…and have achieved nothing.
  or
  MP’s we have heard of that have been there forever….and achieved nothing.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:24am
  - pdm
    
    I would back any current ACT MP plus James Christmas against Goldsmith any day.
    
    The next 10 on the ACT list look quality too when you read their profiles.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:41am
    - Skottowe
      
      pdm: agreed. The ACT line-up looks classy to me.
      
      National needs a rocket up its arse. And the upcoming election may just deliver it.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:18am
      - AitchW
        
        Tactical voting just might see ACT in a very strong position.
        
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        September 28, 2026 12:33pm
    - crikey
      
      Yes, pdm. ACT is the party that has been true to its principles, their quality MPs across the board have worked hard in their portfolios and achieved. I agree with you about their next 10.
      Furthermore, David Seymour is far and away the best of the three coalition party leaders in being able to speak eloquently, thoughtfully and in depth on matters within his sphere. Agree with him or not, at least he has a vision for New Zealand in the long term and defends it.
      
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      September 28, 2026 3:34pm
  - leoj
    
    The answer is: Win an electorate seat and bypass the list, which is the lazy way to get into parliament.
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:58am
- judith8409121
  
  yeah – nah – the only thing to say to Key is ‘I don’t think you have mate’
  You and your party went woke – thanks and goodbye
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:27am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    The sooner the Nats rid themselves of the poisonous influence of Key, the better.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:20am
- Benedict Yu
  
  I’m sorry. I like John Key. He and Bill English navigated the GFC and Christchurch earthquakes admirably.
  
  But National have brought this on themselves. It started with “There is nothing I like in the Treaty Principles Bill” and proceeded from there.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:42am
  - kowtow
    
    Brought .
    
    And no they weren’t geniuses.
    
    Helped supercharge the NZ property ponzi scheme.
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:44am
    - Benedict Yu
      
      Yes I corrected the “bought” to “brought”.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:40am
    - NZer In Exile
      
      How to let the air out of the housing ponzi scheme without tons of “property investors” losing big-time though?
      
      That whole nasty lolly scramble seems to have kicked off with Bob Jones and Ollie Newland writing get-rich books (with the quick do-up and flip) in the early eighties(I think).
      
      I’m sure a few smart people have sensible answers to that question.
      
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      September 29, 2026 6:57pm
  - Souvlaki
    
    What a pity I can uptick this comment only ONCE!🤣
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:48am
  - Northshoredoc
    
    Agreed Benedict.
    
    National are so soaking wet it’s embarassing.
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:53am
    - Paulus
      
      But what is the alternative that will be able to do real things ?
      Not Peters or Seymour as small partners.
      
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      September 28, 2026 11:39am
      - rouppe
        
        They only remain small parties with small thinking.
        
        However much there is pumping of act and NZF on this blog, the readership isn’t big enough to seriously influence their vote share.
        
        They have to appeal to a much bigger audience. I just don’t think enough nz’rs understand MMP to see past “two ticks whoever”
        
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        September 28, 2026 2:23pm
  - Quail
    
    Bill English was the unheralded navigator “par excellence”.
    Nor so sure about Key!
    He would / should have been PM if Peters had not gamed the duplicitous MMP!
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:59am
    - pdm
      
      Key was the excellent front man to the hard work of English.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:44am
  - RoboRob
    
    I like Key too and wish he had stood for a fourth term, NZ would be a much better place if he had. I was stunned to hear him speaking about the two ticks blue policy at the campaign launch. I understand National want the party vote but for Key to stand there and pretend people are being foolish for strategic voting was ‘strange’.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:31am
    - R
      
      Strategic voting is a case of ‘buttering your bread both sides’, when it falls on the floor it is still inedible covred with with dregs.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:00am
    - septic skeptic
      
      Yes, Key was (and is) very likeable. Useless, and a closet lefty, but likeable.
      
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      September 28, 2026 12:31pm
  - Skottowe
    
    Benedict Yu: “I like John Key.”
    
    I didn’t, and still don’t. Bill English, on the other hand…..a real loss to parliament. Come back, Bill, all is forgiven, qu’on dit.
    
    “It started with “There is nothing I like in the Treaty Principles Bill” and proceeded from there.”
    
    Agreed. All downhill from that point.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:24am
  - Colville
    
    Key baked in Helen’s “communism by stealth” WFF policy and continued the slide from there.
    Didn’t tackle any of the hard issues.
    
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    September 28, 2026 5:28pm
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      “Didn’t tackle any of the hard issues” is the Key problem, if you’ll pardon the pun. He was content to smile and wave and plank for 8+ years. So much political capital he could have used for good. His idea of a legacy (the flag referendum) shows the frivolousness of the man.
      
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      September 28, 2026 8:50pm
- KKNZ2025
  
  Key being his usual disingenuous self. He knows full well that the Nats & Luxons “nothing to see here” wilful lazy avoidance of facing up to NZs serious problems that they promised to fix 3 years ago means voters see clearly that ACT & possibly NZF are the only way to progress.
  
  Losing Goldsmith, Brownlee & a few other jobsworths won’t be a disaster.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:50am
  - leoj
    
    …and won’t be sufficient to wake them from their own destruction.
    
    The Nats have blown it. Woke losers.
    
    Luxon is their main problem because no one knows what he stands for, including himself.
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:02pm
  - Ginger Cat
    
    Ain’t dat de troof Lawd
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:33pm
- MCōs
  
  There’s a chance Melissa Lee will pick up Mt Albert; not because she’s particularly popular, but because the vote is likely to be split four ways.
  Currently she’s one of National’s five list MPs. She’s #30 on this year’s list, so it’s win the seat or likely bust after six terms as a list MP
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:51am
  - Benedict Yu
    
    I still don’t understand why she was fired as a minister early in the term.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:01am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      The leftist media loathe her and went for her from day one of the 2023 Government…and Luxon buckled, instead of backing her.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:26am
      - R
        
        A tacticle dismissal!.
        
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        September 28, 2026 9:30am
      - pdm
        
        Nailed it Maggy.
        
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        September 28, 2026 9:45am
      - kowtow
        
        If [Mod – use the proper word] media loathe her then there must be something good about her.
        
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        September 28, 2026 11:02am
      - sungsamning
        
        Yes, a leader with a backbone would have doubled down, and ignored the squeals from the fake news.
        
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        September 28, 2026 1:23pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Again, I am in the same boat as you. It seemed like she had the media portfolio under control but Luxon wanted to give more assistance and she was opposed. I say that as her replacement, the ‘excellent’ Goldsmith immediately revitalised Labours planned google tax.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:34am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        Newshub went down the gurgler when the Yanks pulled the plug on it.
        
        https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018933655/newshub-shutdown-confirmed-jobs-cut
        
        The media luvvies wanted revenge…and Melissa Lee took the hit.
        https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-04-2024/the-five-most-baffling-moments-from-melissa-lees-post-newshub-interviews
        
        Such a pity Melissa Lee and Luxon didn’t tell the media folk to stop expecting Government handouts.
        
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        September 28, 2026 10:34am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Fired for being an actual conservative.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:25am
    - cmm (semi-retired edition)
      
      Melissa Lee was fantastic in opposition. Lots of bite.
      
      But the qualities that make a good opposition person do not always translate into good ministerial material.
      
      Perhaps she was just not up to it.
      Or perhaps she was too good.
      
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      September 28, 2026 12:23pm
    - Jack5
      
      To refresh memories: Melissa Lee’s guest post on Kiwiblog in January 2022 outlining her views on NZ Media began:
      
      “I am going to make one thing very clear.
      
      “The Public Interest Journalism Fund is not fit for purpose”
      
      You can read what she wanted to do at the following link. Shamefully, she was replaced as Media Minister. Paul Goldsmith was given her ministerial role:
      
      https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2022/01/guest_post_the_future_of_new_zealand_media.html
      
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      September 28, 2026 1:52pm
  - Quail
    
    Hmm, she was one of Luxon’s first victims.
    Had a lot of respect for her work. It was a real shame Goldsmith was given her Media portfolio
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:09am
  - RoboRob
    
    I suspect Lee will win Mt Albert. Good for her. If she does so however that makes Willis and companies chances of a list place even more remote as that is a seat gain for National.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:36am
    - KKNZ2025
      
      win/win then
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:58am
    - Pope Punctilious II
      
      Lee is definitely in with a chance in Mt. Albert, as progressives will be agonizing over choosing between the remarkably unlikable incumbent Helen White and the fresh face of Q Wong. Plus Ricardo M-M is there in the mix too, to further confuse leftists.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:30am
- kingerstinger
  
  “It looks like National have belatedly woken up to this possibility, with John Key admonishing National voters not to Party vote for minority Parties that will “bring in MPs you’ve never heard of”.
  
  Tell them not to have a leadership contest in an election year then JK!
  
  Not being wet blankets would have helped also.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:52am
  - RoboRob
    
    Not sure the leadership contest made a jot of difference, the polling and trajectory has remained the same. For what its worth Key was opposed to the leadership challenge and strongly backs Luxon.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:37am
    - septic skeptic
      
      They should have rolled Luxon. Mindbogglingly stupid that they couldn’t coalesce around a stalking horse and then go to a leadership contest. Luxon will lose even more support over the campaign. We can only hope it goes to ACT, or NZF at a pinch. BTW I still think NZF could go with Labour in order to avoid the dreaded 4(5?)-way of the current opposition parties. Labour/Green/NZF sounds a bit more palatable than L/G/TOP+ both factions of TPM!!
      
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      September 28, 2026 12:42pm
- Dougal10
  
  I think the point is for us non nat voters, to hold our ideals and electorate vote the likes of Bishop and co in and then party vote who we want really.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:14am
  - RoboRob
    
    Agree with the principle but not for certain electorate MPs. For example if I was in Watts electorate he wouldn’t be getting my vote 🙂 I’m not sure I would vote for Bishop either. He really rubbed me the wrong way when he laughed when he was challenged over only delivering half of the promised roads of national significance.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:44am
    - Damocles11
      
      The overhang strategy only works if you give the Nats your electorate vote. The alternative is “yeah, Chloe is now the minister of finance….but at least I didn’t vote for Simon Watts”. Hopefully most people in the right are smart enough not to stuff this up.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:53am
  - Damocles11
    
    And vice versa, the National voters should give their electorate votes to the likes of Bishop and give their party votes to ACT, or – if they really must – NZ First. And NZ First voters need to wise up and give their electorate votes to National. It’s either than or lose our country to the far left.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:50am
- peterwn
  
  That is a risk that National and Nicola decided to take when Nicola went list only and decided not to try and gatecrash as safe seat such as Papakura. Gatecrashing a safe seat would have been bad publicity for the party. No fears, Nicola would readily find work outside of Parliament.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:23am
  - RoboRob
    
    It looks like we shall soon see if she can.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:45am
    - peterwn
      
      Well, she landed a job with Fonterra which was her first *REAL*™ job (prior to that she was a Parliamentary staffer) and she was successful at that job. She will not exactly be queuing up at the WINZ office.
      
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      September 28, 2026 12:17pm
      - Quail
        
        Nicola Willis has not been a huge success in her present role. Government spending increased, the deficit has increased ,inflation increasing , exchange rate falling ,,interest rates on the way up etc etc . The worst of which is her ever increasing spending.
        A quick visit to the Croaking Cassandra blog will suggest “a far from perfect performance.”
        So ,IMHO , it would be a really good thing for NZ to have a new ,but this time competent ,finance minister.
        With the important proviso that such a new minister comes from the coalition stable!
        But with the specific exclusion of NZ First. who are economically hopeless .
        ( eg Refer to Peters plans for the RB PTA. which have failed badly once ,yet he is proposing the same thing again).
        
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        September 28, 2026 2:43pm
- Paulus
  
  How great it is to see TVNZ front persons Election Group Advertising with guess who in front,
  Our Tova who appears to have taken this role despite not being the Political Editor we underastand.
  Shame as some of the other although not all, are actually quite good.
  But not quite viscious enough so bring out the great blaster first, Tova the Great.
  Oh dear they are at it again as its an election possibility against their inspiration.!
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:42am
  - pdm
    
    Stuff I see are covering Elections that are being held in that mythical place Aotearoa.
    
    No mention of the upcoming New Zealand elections which I would have thought were more important.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:57am
    - Ghost
      
      Are they?
      
      Looks to me like NZ Elections 2026
      
      screenshot
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:04am
      - Ghost
        
        guess downvoters prefer a lie when it feeds into what they desperately want to believe.
        
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        September 28, 2026 11:12am
      - RoboRob
        
        You made me go to Stuff !
        
        Go to the politics section, https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics and you will see …
        
        Stuff
        Kia ora, Aotearoa • 28 Sep, 2026
        …
        AOTEROA DECIDES 2026
        
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        September 28, 2026 11:25am
    - R
      
      Geography is not a strong point with either STUFF nor their readers in general.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:15am
- Damocles11
  
  We are trying to win an election against the far left who want to destroy New Zealand, not lose the election but at least Willis is sitting on the opposition benches.
  The choice is simple: listen to Key of UNDRIP infamy like a good little slave, or vote to ensure a victory for the current Coalition. There are 4 far left parties in Labour / Greens / TOP / TPM, with TPM trying to screw the scrum further with an overhang. Against that, there are 3 Coalition parties trying to hold the line. But yes, let’s all listen to Key and lose this crucial and defining election, so that Willis can get back. We can be stupid, or we can use our brains and beat the Left at their own game, or we can lose everything.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:47am
Scott

The first female Archbishop of Canterbury vows to speak out on misogyny:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/28/sarah-mullally-first-female-archbishop-canterbury-vows-call-out-misogyny

Well that’s all very good I’m sure. However the first female archbishop of Canterbury then presents an award for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation to a Muslim cleric who had praised Osama Bin Laden:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckr50lrz5e6zo

Now she has since rescinded that award. But look at the picture with the Muslim cleric in full Islamic dress and his wife in full Islamic dress, a burqua, so you can only just see her eyes. And his daughter, also with a hijab and a veil so most of her face is covered. This guy is having a laugh!

And the female archbishop, whose pledged to fight misogyny obviously saw nothing wrong in the full burqua and the hijab and the veil. No sirree. Move along, nothing to see here.
This photo shows, in one image, the abject surrender of western civilisation to Islam.
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September 28, 2026 8:04am
- kowtow
  
  scott
  
  The Daily Telegraph have covered ( like the wife) that story very well.Asa matter of interest.
  
  That Muslim pakistani guy is from the Deobandi persuasion.
  
  Known to be “fundamentalist”, not much in the way of interfaith anything with them .Who advises these Anglicans?
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:06am
- BeaB
  
  No names given for the wife or daughter. The adults all draped in black, the wife with only her eyes showing. Beware religions that require fancy dress.
  This was a serious misstep by the archbishop who should be concentrating on supporting parishes struggling to maintain expensive buildings and retain congregations. The church is dying on its feet while she pursues trendy causes.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:22am
- Pope Punctilious II
  
  I wonder how many Anglicans are considering Catholicism or Orthodoxy.
  
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  September 28, 2026 12:11pm
Hugh Jarse

Chippy yesterday, rude, arrogant, sweary, swaggering, looks like he has truly absorbed Mallards persona for the election campaign.
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September 28, 2026 8:08am
- kowtow
  
  Once he starts throwing punches the absorbtion will be completed.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:07am
greybeard

John Key wants voters to give both their Electorate and Party votes to National.
Of course he would.

Peters wants voters to give NZF their Party vote and do what they like with their Electorate vote. Of course he would.
He wants to exploit dissatisfaction with National and take their Party votes.
His problem is that many of the voters who would otherwise have party-voted National will now be seriously considering party-voting for ACT, not NZF.
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September 28, 2026 8:14am
- Frank the tank
  
  Your have 2 distinct choices:
  
  1). Social conservative – vote NZ first
  2). Economic conservative – vote Act
  
  Both do their part of the center right than National has and can do. National now is a center-left party contesting with Labour and TOP for the white, under 60, corporate, urban (and predominantly female) vote.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:27am
- Simon
  
  People pine after John Key, but he was just as useless as Luxon. The difference is NZ cant carry National like it could in 2010s,
  
  Just dont party vote National. But NZ is a state of utter decline under National., Has been for decades. Its baked in the cake.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:28am
  - Jethrod
    
    Oh Simon, go to the top of the list with that comment, you may even make leader after the election. In the meantime keep writing those extreme lefty exerpts in the Horrid.
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:23pm
  - MCōs
    
    John Key was a far better politician and he had a capable team for the times.
    National would doubtlessly have won the 2017 election with him as leader and NZF would be a distant memory.
    But there we are
    
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    September 28, 2026 2:31pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Mostly went pretty well then out of the blue threw NZ under the bus with UNDRIP (why???), then promptly ran away. Very very weird and disturbing. Either clueless on that issue or did in the dimly lit recesses of his mind know the consequences, and in a moment of weird madness proceeded anyway. The pony tail pulling thing was pretty weird also IMHO. Who does that???
      ACT, NZF and (reformed) Gnats need to tell the UN they are well past their used-by date, full of far-left airheads and corrupt scumbags, and NZ will govern itself without their stinking far-left/corrupt input, thank you very much.
      
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      September 29, 2026 6:44pm
- judith8409121
  
  sure – i’ve party voted ACT for years – tactical voting is the correct way to vote – bad luck for national they had their 3 years and blew it – they could have supported ACT’s bill in parliament – but instead of doing that they thumbed their nose to the voter and the chance to show they believe in equal rights for all – their race based (racist) beliefs and their woke not able to say what a woman is – goodbye
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:30am
- Souvlaki
  
  And so they should if we are to have any hope of getting out of the quagmire we’re in as a country!
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:35am
  - kowtow
    
    A really good article and some great comments on the economic mess we’re in.
    
    ‘As we head into the November election, the key focus of political or parties seems to be tax, plus the need to work towards a balanced budget, plus whether election lollies can be funded. Entangled somewhere in amongst this are inflation, cost of living, unemployment and mounting infrastructure needs.’
    
    https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/140428/keith-woodford-says-exports-and-population-will-interact-determine-new-zealand%E2%80%99s
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:58am
    - Quail
      
      Yet again an important accurate post from Professor Woodford.
      The issues he raised are substantial and real but we need more and active solutions clearly enunciated so our Politicians could adopt or use them.
      Sadly NZ is a long way from doing anything about them. All Luxon ,Key , Hipkins ,Peters , and the other politicians are interested in is promoting themselves and own parties .
      What is best for NZ the Country comes a long long way behind their self interest!
      
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      September 28, 2026 3:07pm
- crackle
  
  You’d have to think Christopher Luxon amd Nicola Willis didnt get the memo when they decided to wheel out Chloe’s talking points and line up supermarket owners. Reckon that will see Willis and Bishop out of parliament.
  Sending your core support to another party is about as strategically dumb as you can be when your party vote v electorate vote means list spots are at a premium.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:47am
- ChristopherW2
  
  I’ve been Party-voting ACT and Electorate-voting National since I got back to NZ and never thought anything of it — you vote according to whom you like, and maybe who you think has a chance to win.
  
  It didn’t strike me as improper or underhanded; no election has been unbalanced by my voting this way; although if that were a risk, I would support NZ following the example of Germany and balancing electoral seats based on the Party vote.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:54am
  - pdm
    
    Me too CW2 with two excepetions since 1996.
    
    2005 Electorate vote for Rick Barker Labour.
    2014 two ticks National because I thought ACT was a goner.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:01am
  - sungsamning
    
    In 1996, I heard Richard Prebble say ‘two ticks National’ was the shortest suicide note in history. He was right. The same applies now.
    
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    September 28, 2026 1:33pm
    - NZer In Exile
      
      Sure. Hold your nose and electoral vote gnats and party vote ACT or NZF, unless you want the far-left lunatics running the country. It sucks (to be giving the gnats a free kick) but there is no other choice.
      
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      September 29, 2026 6:46pm
- Dougal10
  
  There are only about 2 electorates that shouldnt have those on the right of politics vote the nat in then party vote nz1 or act . Imagine how quick the likes of chloe and co would like a change of political system if nats got 44 or more seats and very little party vote . I dont see why we dont do this .
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:21am
  - RoboRob
    
    Good point, there would be strong support from the left for change to MMP if the right wins using an overlap.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:50am
    - Damocles11
      
      As long as the far left are sitting on the opposition benches where they can’t destroy New Zealand, they can say and do whatever they like.
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:56am
      - Maggy Wassilieff
        
        As long as the far left are sitting on the opposition benches where they can’t destroy New Zealand, they can say and do whatever they like.
        
        But haven’t you noticed how many of the “far left” ideas ooze into mainstream institutions?
        
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        September 28, 2026 10:45am
- Paulus
  
  By voting for Peters nothing will be achieved in a Coalition Government of which he may be a member..
  All usual bullshit promises knowing full well nothing will be achieved, except his State Funeral !
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:45am
  - imalwaysright
    
    As the Coalition negotiates, each Party’s defining policies will go into the mix and come out amended, dead, or paid only lipservice.
    It will be another three years of mediocrity.
    It is extremely unlikely that the changes we desperately need will happen.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:45am
- Paulus
  
  But only Considering – not yet doing !
  Come back in November.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:46am
artemisia

Northland musician Sean Kemball’s victimisation claim over request for ADHD help

The Human Rights Review Tribunal has found that Mr Kemball was victimised by his local orchestra due to his neurodivergent condition (ADHD).

Kemball told NZME the committee had agreed to him bringing a support person to help him manage conflict and difficult situations.

The HRRT did not find there was discrimination.

While the orchestra was a voluntary organisation, employers need to take careful note of the case and the HRRT’s findings. Because under H&S regs they could be facing similar situations and incurring significant costs and business risk. In addition, employers could consider how they would deal with similar ongoing conflicts and complaints, noting that they were said to be the cause of the orchestra closing down.

Sports clubs and other community organisations – could be you next.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/crime-and-justice/1597925/northland-musician-sean-kemball-s-victimisation-claim-over-request-for-adhd-help
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September 28, 2026 8:17am
- ISeeRed
  
  I’ve read the link and I’m still baffled. What did he actually want? What actually happened that wasn’t to his liking?
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:27am
- kowtow
  
  Society is being victimised by the medicalisation of ADHD.
  
  It’s now costing the UK taxpayer a fortune .
  
  Where England goes…….
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:47am
  - Pope Punctilious II
    
    There’s a very effective cure for ADHD, and it doesn’t involve drugs.
    https://youtu.be/sdb4rNFRzU0?si=PnQgwfwkc2PonbYj
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:22pm
- Benedict Yu
  
  Seems a little odd. An employer does need to extend reasonable accommodation to folk with disabilities, but an unpaid gig in a community orchestra?
  
  In the article it states that the drama with the case caused them to shut down the orchestra.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:47am
  - BeaB
    
    The world today seems to be full of people expecting everyone else to adjust to them. This guy burned down the playground and then complains no-one wants to play with him.
    What a waste of everyone’s time and talents.
    
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    September 28, 2026 8:58am
- Dudley Quaffquaff
  
  Nothing in this article will help other groups to avoid similar situations, because at no point is it clear what the orchestra did wrong
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:23am
- Eastlander
  
  The concept of ADHD is the reduction of a personality to a medical problem. A way for fat schoolteachers to punish little boys for acting like little boys instead of little girls, and for cretins to excuse their rudeness and laziness as the products of disease rather than character flaws.
  
  Swarbrick as everyone knows, claims to have it . The bitter truth is that she is the dim child of bright parents – her upbringing, social class and disposition have gifted her with a sense of being destined for great things. Heredity has not gifted her with the spark of greatness, and rather than accept herself for what she is she seizes upon spurious medical diagnoses in the hopes that she can medicate herself into brilliance while holding up her supposed mental illnesses as a shield against critique and rebuke.
  
  Any adult who claims to have it is just signaling their unwillingness to live in society on any terms but their own. Contemptible.
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:27am
Simon

Solution to the Waitangi Tribunal, sing John Lennon’s Imagine and hold night time candle vigil.

Done, they can then close down, that’s how its supposed to work.
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September 28, 2026 8:20am
Gravelroad

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361038178/lawyer-hospitalised-his-son-kept-practising-and-was-paid-500k-public-money
How cool is this for the crims?
A thug who beat up his kid gets to keep practising as a legal aid lawyer to help other crims get away with criminal offending, and we stupid taxpayers keep paying him.
It is actually not funny, but apparently within the laws of the land. And the man must be allowed to keep his privacy, of course.
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September 28, 2026 8:28am
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  And there we are, always complaining that lawyers have no real life experience. Here’s a man who’s stepped up.
  
  //, just in case
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:52am
JJ56

I took one for the team and watched both leaders’ launches yesterday (in my defence it was wet and cold). Some quick reflections.

Nats ~1000, Lab ~600 (confirmed by Politik and Stuff this am) but empty seats for the former and not the latter. Nats better stage managed, with Hipkins looking like a lost soul as he walked from the back of the stage for his entrance. Luxon more relaxed, Hipkins had obviously been schooled on projecting mongrel, but it was forced. I thought desperation is a stinky cologne.

The Nats’ promise card was so (Labour) yesteryear, but could be rescued by some specific targets, Labour’s student loan write off was clearly a populous bribe to those that stay anyway with Labour using smoke and mirrors (aka the Crown’s balance sheet) to claim it is costless (lost in the annual revaluation of the Crown’s debt according to both Hipkins and Edmonds – who should know better). One has to prefer another Commerce Commission review of the supermarket duopoly in comparison.

Anyway the campaign begins.
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September 28, 2026 8:38am
- amospicton
  
  If it’s really costless to write off 10% of student debt why not do 100%?
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:48am
- RoboRob
  
  ‘Nats ~1000, Lab ~600’.
  
  News to me, watching TV1 this morning they said ‘Labour and National had about the same turnout but National overestimated their turnout and had a lot of ’empty’ seats’ (or words to that effect). Talk about balanced reporting from our state owned news agency.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:53am
- pdm
  
  I had an email from Biscuit who is in his electorate about Hipkins swearing. I got the clear impression Biscuit was not impressed.
  
  Mind you I think it would be a `cold day in hell’ before Hipkins would get any sort of vote from our Biscuit.
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:06am
- Gravelroad
  
  Labour’s lame student loan thing is a waste of time and won’t make any difference to their voter base.
  Looked like something the TOP nuts would think up.
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:06am
  - RoboRob
    
    Are you assuming all students already vote Labour / left?
    
    My feel is that this ‘bribe’ is likely to get some additional student vote, much the same way as it did for Helen Clark when she used interest free student loans as an election bribe years ago.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:44am
    - Maggy Wassilieff
      
      Yep,
      it will get the overseas’ vote from all the young folk who decamped before paying off their loan.
      
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      September 28, 2026 10:49am
      - NeverMindTheBollocks
        
        One in the eye for the Greens, then
        
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        September 28, 2026 9:29pm
  - JJ56
    
    30,000 new student loans per annum so perhaps 90,000 being bribed over the course of the next trienium – moving a proportion of those 18-24 y.o. to both enrol (40% aren’t) and/or switch to Labour.
    
    Well worth Labour promising.
    
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    September 28, 2026 10:51am
  - AitchW
    
    Bribing students with their own money is ingrained kaupapa for Labour. Clark did it, Ardern did it, and Hipkins is doing it.
    It is, however, a bribe with lots of exceptions. It applies only to those students who didn’t get a free year and have stayed in NZ for three years after finishing their degree. How many will that apply to?
    Will such a bribe persuade students to stay here for three years after finishing their degrees? And why do we need to keep them here? They come back, in most cases, more experienced with a wider world view.
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:02am
    - JJ56
      
      The point is the main recipient group will be those that are already staying – 80% of the cohort. Labour isn’t talking about the tax breaks for these students because they are trying to sell it as something to reduce the brain drain.
      
      A very poorly targeted policy in the grand tradition of election bribes. Watch it unravel.
      
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      September 28, 2026 1:17pm
  - greybeard
    
    I feel sorry for the people who did the right thing and paid off their loans. I bet they feel sorry too.
    What if you owe $3000: is Chippie saying that if you then pay $1001 to ring the balance under $2000 then you will have that written-off ?
    
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    September 28, 2026 3:55pm
    - Ian Boag
      
      I feel sorry for the people who did the right thing and paid off their loans
      
      Rubbish. Them’s was the rules at the time. They probably got them interest free which was a bit hard on the generation before them who didn’t. Then there was the generation before that who had free tuition and there weren’t any loans …
      
      Things change …
      
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      September 28, 2026 7:52pm
David George

Five suspected Iranian terrorists have been arrested just outside RAF’s Fairford base.
Iran has previously warned/threatened that they had significant numbers of undercover operatives in the UK but they’ve done next to nothing to stop it. Cos racism?
It was only that a farmer noticed the terrorists vans that they were apprehended at all.
Even with all that and the murder of tens of thousands of innocent Iranians the UK’s foreign secretary, Ed, has been cozying up to the criminal regime. Are they really that stupid?
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September 28, 2026 8:39am
- kowtow
  
  Iran has been sponsoring anti semetic attacks across the west .
  Not to mention Oct 7 .
  
  Silence from the usual suspects .
  
  Irish president welcomed Iranian ambassador ( regime has murdered 10’s of thousands of own freedom loving young people , rapes prisoners , hangs democrats ) with big smile and handshake but would be part of the BDS against Israel and other anti semetic , Nazi adjacent behaviour.
  
  Irish UN delegates along with many evil regimes , performatively walked out on Netanyahu.
  
  Disgusting.
  
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  September 28, 2026 8:53am
  - crikey
    
    Kowtow: For the record, it is correctly ‘anti-semitic’.
    
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    September 28, 2026 4:04pm
- imalwaysright
  
  The only thing left for the Islamic takeover of Britain is a few arms shipments, thats assuming they aren’t already there.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:01am
- MCōs
  
  According to Trump those people were under surveillance.
  Not that that means much.
  Prior to the mosque murders in NZ it had been announced that about forty people were under surveillance in NZ as possible terrorists, but not Tarrant as it turned out
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:07am
  - David Garrett
    
    MCos: It was widely rumored at the time that several of the mosque victims were themselves under surveillance by the SIS
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:12am
    - MCōs
      
      Interestingly I was eating an ice cream in Cornwall Park in early 2018 and got into a conversation with a Muslim guy about my age whose mate had just been killed by a bomb in Kabul
      He told me that he was affiliated to a mosque in Ponsonby and the police had been sniffing around and asked them to keep an eye out for younger guys who had been radicalized. He said the mainstream Muslims were happy to cooperate with the police
      He also told me where was a good place to get walking sticks and I wished I’d remembered now . .
      A year later Tarrant shot up the mosques in Chch
      
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      September 28, 2026 9:37am
  - David George
    
    Trump is correct in general terms; the UK’s anti terrorist agencies do have a watch list but it’s not known that these suspects were on it.
    The UK police have indicated the operation itself was not intelligence-led in the sense of prior knowledge of a specific plot. It was a local farmer that phoned in the tip about the suspect’s vehicles.
    
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    September 28, 2026 9:19am
- Inandout
  
  How easy it was for these terrorists to simply walk off the boats, be escorted to warm accommodation, have free medical and dental and be paid to boot. Plotting an attack from relative luxury is so simple, and there are many more to come.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:28am
  - MCōs
    
    Now do Tarrant
    There have been many terrorist attacks in the UK over the last half century and probably half of them were perpetrated by the IRA.
    There’s a comprehensive list of all attacks to be found in Wikipedia. You might like to analyze the names and see how many are born in the UK, immigrants, asylum seekers or whatever
    
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    September 28, 2026 2:59pm
    - Sir Henry Morgan
      
      Well Tarrant wasn’t born in New Zealand. Guess you could call him a sort of immigrant?
      
      And just why would any country want to import terrorists when it already has plenty of its own?
      
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      September 28, 2026 3:35pm
      - MCōs
        
        Inandout was clearly referring to asylum seekers/refugees
        Tarrant would have had a resident visa
        
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        September 28, 2026 4:29pm
      - MCōs
        
        Australians or anyone else not NZ citizens must meet good character requirements
        Questions are asked on immigration forms and wrong answers or suspected wrong answers are investigated
        
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        September 28, 2026 4:36pm
- Philview
  
  I imagine the UK Government will not want publicity on the facts if these guys came across in small boats.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:36am
  - MCōs
    
    You can find out for yourself once the names are confirmed
    
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    September 28, 2026 3:00pm
- Ra Henare
  
  British police have not yet publicly confirmed the identities, nationalities, or formal affiliations of the five suspects
  
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  September 28, 2026 5:16pm
- Drone
  
  The five were actually UK citizens living in London. Unlike the Mossad activists that inhabit cities all over the world carrying out terrorist activities and assasinating world leaders…
  
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  September 29, 2026 7:20pm
mike

Random election question:
Does the Labour Party campaign team really think Chris Hipkins’s picture on billboards will win votes?
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September 28, 2026 8:56am
- RoboRob
  
  I wondered that too mike. Also, whats with the colouring on the billboards? Its mostly a pinkish shade with some red swirls. Are red billboards more expensive or are they trying to fool Labour voters into ticking Act? Real smart!
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:56am
  - wsk12345
    
    We have one practically looking into our lounge from across the street. There is one chair i cannot now sit in.
    
    Im too law abiding to vandalise it but my dog has used for his morning pee which is attracting lots of attention from other passing pups. 🙂
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:24am
  - kowtow
    
    This was discussed on the Platformthis am.
    
    Labour messaging no longer comradely red but gone pink.
    
    To appeal to the woke women’s , trans , gender crowd ?
    
    No longer cloth cap , working men’s party.
    
    Don’t forget Hipkins thinks men can be women.
    
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    September 28, 2026 12:49pm
- pdm
  
  A rare uptick from me Mikey.
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:07am
- jacthecat
  
  Same occurred to me the other day as I passed one … the billboard needs a Tui beer ‘Yeah right’ following the wet Labour slogan.
  
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  September 28, 2026 12:33pm
- Jethrod
  
  Better bullsh…t now!
  
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  September 28, 2026 12:40pm
- R
  
  Do we really want Hipkins to win VOTES. Contrary to media impressions, ELECTIONS are not a ‘beauty contest’.
  
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  September 28, 2026 3:45pm
BeaB

RNZ tells us Luxon couldn’t fill the hall with 1000 but Hipkins filled his – with 600. If there’s a negative spin RNZ will take it every time.
Mike Hosking manages a useful, informative interview with Luxon while John Campbell, his usual over-excited self, gets hung up on one talking point.
I’d love Paul Henry to become minister of broadcasting if only to restrict our state broadcaster to impartial reporting of the news.

[Mod – fixed]
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September 28, 2026 9:02am
- MCōs
  
  I listen to morning report, but turn it off whenever one of those politicians is being interviewed
  Everything is so predictable now that David Lange is no longer with us
  Nobody seems to have any vision
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:51am
  - Paulus
    
    RNZ have the vision- their’s like TVNZ, corruption of the country by the media.
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:55am
  - crikey
    
    MCōs: ‘Nobody seems to have any vision”. Disagree, David Seymour has vision (for the country, preempting retorts about blindness).
    
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    September 28, 2026 4:09pm
Ian Boag

The MMP overhang thing looks like a lot of fun. It also looks sort of “wrong” re the spirit of PR about % of votes = % of seats.

So I went and asked ny trusty bot. Turns out the Electoral Commission had some (quite reasonable) thoughts on this. I’m not madly promoting any of them but for example there was the idea that if a party gets overhang seats the winners get to keep them but the overall number of list seats decreases by the size of the overhang then this reduced number of list seats is allocated by the normal rules. So in 2023 the total pool of list seats would have shrunk by two ….

No shortage of KBers who think anything that reduces the nuber of list MPs is a good thing 🙂

The bot ran this model against the 2023 election to see what happened. There were also a few other thoughts of how to stay close to “% of votes = % of seats” and “electorate winners stay winners” …

Of course if the Maori seats were done away with, them TPM would likely get enough party votes to retain something close to their current level but without the ability to cause an overhang.

A bit lengthy but worth a read.
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September 28, 2026 9:06am
- Ian Boag
  
  I read a bit more … the (simple) one I liked was …
  
  Have the election – if it generates an overhang, keep the size of parliament the same. Electorate winners stay as electorate winners. Then reduce the size of the list pool by the amount of the overhang – then run the same Saint-Lague thingie we do now to allocate the list seats. Parliament is 120 seats no matter what.
  
  While at it, one could look at the “one electorate seat” rule and knock the 5% thing down to maybe 3%. But those are maybe for another time ….
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:10am
RW Capitalist

Went a meet the candidates meeting in my electorate..REMUTAKA,
Met, eventually all the candidates present
Summary
National: candidate not present, but 2 reps including a member of their policy team
ACT: Candidate present
NZF: Candidate present
Opportunities: Candidate present.
Greens: Candidate present
Progressive: 2 party members present, one from Palmerston North.

LABOUR: Conspicuously absent, no rep. (Hipkins at launch in Auckland) no material….NOTHING.
Arrogance? Uncaring? Expectant of our vote?
All present listened respectfully, all were attentive even the Greens when I started with, “we are probably not going to agree on much”.
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September 28, 2026 9:23am
- fightingtemeraire
  
  National and Labour have a Louis XIV complex.
  
  “L’etat c’est moi”! (The state, it is I). They think that they are born to rule. 2 terms red then 2 terms blue etc etc.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:39am
- rjay
  
  The National candidate would have been in Auckland for the launch as well. Poor timing for the electorate meeting.
  
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  September 28, 2026 9:49am
  - RichardF
    
    National are not interested in winning Remutaka. They put up a random no name every time.
    
    Mike Leddy → Richard Whiteside → Jonathan Fletcher → Lewis Holden → Carolyn O’Fallon → Mark Crofskey → Emma Chatterton. Their 2026 candidate is Zabeen Lateef. I’ve seen a few signs in my suburb with “Vote Lateef” on them. A National candidate has never knocked on my door but Act showed up once.
    
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    September 28, 2026 11:17am
    - RW Capitalist
      
      Did some door knocking for Richard Whiteside, Hipkins first win.
      Met Hipkins, my opinion hasn’t changed. Check your pockets when you do, to see if your wallet is still there.
      
      5 1
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      September 28, 2026 11:44am
    - rangitoto
      
      Never had any politician knock on my door. JW’s sometimes show up.
      
      2 0
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      September 28, 2026 3:35pm
RoboRob

So it is officially campaign time. Strangely I was already over it after watching Winston and Hipkins this morning. I wonder, have most people already made up their minds on who to vote for? Is this campaign period really going to change much?
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September 28, 2026 9:59am
- imalwaysright
  
  I think that the increased exposure of the candidates will lead to contempt from the Public.
  
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  September 28, 2026 10:29am
- MCōs
  
  Apparently research has shown that this close to an election people have already decided
  Getting people to enroll and vote is the hard part. Hence the student loan giveaway. It’s unlikely to be seen as any other than an election bribe by the solid, sensible, two ticks blue or yellow types, but younger students might not think it’s such a bad idea
  
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  September 28, 2026 3:18pm
Damocles11

Looking around Mt Maunganui and Tauranga I see billboards up for Waititi but not for the Labour candidate for this Maori electorate. Seems to me that Labour are sneakily going in for the overhang strategy. Hopefully this totally backfires on them when the intelligent voters of the collective right deliver an overhang of their own.
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September 28, 2026 10:09am
- Ghost
  
  Billboards are still being put up.
  
  4 4
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  September 28, 2026 10:20am
  - kevn
    
    I have been driving around the BoP quite a bit lately and have yet to see any of cowboys TpM billboards level/horizontal. They are all wonky.
    
    2 0
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    September 28, 2026 4:48pm
- AitchW
  
  Labour, the Green and Maori parties, and quite likely NZF will be opening every pork barrel they can find.
  Labour has started with the usual sop for tertiary students.
  National and ACT will run a much more restrained campaign.
  I still believe that we will elect a National led campaign, I just hope that NZF will be punished for their leader’s repeated quests for the baubles of power.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:08am
  - RoboRob
    
    I’m no fan of Winstons but it seems to me NZF are set to reap the rewards of Nationals relative weakness.
    
    5 2
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    September 28, 2026 11:35am
  - kowtow
    
    ‘Labour has started with the usual sop for tertiary students.’
    
    And to their parents.
    
    5 1
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    September 28, 2026 12:41pm
  - rouppe
    
    Just remember that Labour’s 10% thing doesn’t apply to any student that has received a fees free year.
    
    So there’s 8 years of students that won’t get that benefit
    
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    September 28, 2026 3:01pm
    - RoboRob
      
      Apparently it was ‘only’ in place for 5 years. But that is bad enough. Remember the coalition changed it to 3rd year and then cancelled it, im not sure if this years students will get it.
      
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      September 28, 2026 4:02pm
lifesgood

Boy General Debate is depressing this morning. ACT voters out in force and having a hate fest against National.
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September 28, 2026 10:24am
- Damocles11
  
  Actually, I’m a Coalition voter. I am splitting my votes across 2 Coalition parties. National is getting 1 of my 2 votes. You can be a rusted-on ‘I’ll do what Mr Key tells me to do’ blue voter if you like, the fact is that the centre -right only wins if all 3 parties in the current Coalition get back. With National polling in the 20’s perhaps there should be a little less of the ‘born-to-rule’ mentality and a bit more realpolitik.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:07am
- RoboRob
  
  Probably some NZF voters and some left wingers as well 🙂
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:13am
- Cassandra
  
  Life: the depressing reality is that you seem to think that National is doing ok. They are not. Luxon is a poor communicator and National is trying to have five bob each way. The day of the broad church is over.
  
  12 5
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  September 28, 2026 11:47am
- Ra Henare
  
  You hit the nail on the head. LIfesgood.
  General debate is depressing this morning, full stop.
  
  I did appreciate, however, the link to the Agri Professors bit on NZ economy.
  Thanks Kowtow.
  
  The rest…………… predictable rants.
  
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  September 28, 2026 5:27pm
MCōs

Yesterday I went to the Labour Party Campaign Launch at the Due Drop Events Centre on Great South Road
What I didn’t know was there are two auditoriums and I initially went to the wrong one which was filled with thousands of noisy singing Pacifica people dressed in white praising the Lord.
Way down the other end of the building was the equally noisy Labour crowd jammed into a smaller space
The Pacific Youth Choir ‘Bathe in the River’ and other songs and Carmel Sepuloni fired up the faithful
Chris Hipkins gave his speech, said bullshit at one time, which I barely noticed, but the media made a meal out of!
The crowd went wild, we all bust out the doors into the drizzle
I’d like to say we all marched off down the Great South Road to reclaim the Waikato for the people, but it was too cold so I went home and had a cup of tea.
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September 28, 2026 10:41am
- Ghost
  
  I saw a pic in the paper last night; you weren’t confused that with all the red lights you hadn’t walked into a brothel?
  
  14 3
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  September 28, 2026 10:50am
- RoboRob
  
  Was it good? Do you feel more motivated to vote Labour now?
  
  I always feel like these events are more for TV and news reporting (getting policy out), then they are for the party faithful who attend. Lets face it, if you go to an election launch party you are probably already in the bag for that party right?
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:16am
  - MCōs
    
    The people that go know their role is as extras in an extravaganza aimed at the media.
    In that respect it’s a short sharp choreographed event bursting at the seams with no distractions because that’s all that’s needed.
    No gaps in the seating, no hecklers, no lectures from yesterday’s fading star
    I was in and out and back on the road in 90mins and managed to catch two action packed shows
    
    2 0
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    September 28, 2026 4:07pm
- NeverMindTheBollocks
  
  Should have stuck with your first choice.
  
  3 0
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  September 28, 2026 11:46am
  - imalwaysright
    
    Yes, a better class of people.
    
    3 0
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    September 28, 2026 4:16pm
- Jethrod
  
  Is that the event centre that looks like a canoe?
  Should be Long Drop Centre.
  
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  September 28, 2026 12:48pm
NeverMindTheBollocks

Apropos of the Charities Commission closing down Gloriavale.

Good.

Now do the Waipareira Trust.
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September 28, 2026 10:54am
- RoboRob
  
  Zero chance of that. That would be ‘racist’.
  
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  September 28, 2026 11:16am
- Jack5
  
  Plenty of charities to assess. The Seventh Day Adventists’ food manufacturer, Sanitarium; Ngai Tahu’s group charity registration covering near 30 businesses, and on and on.
  
  Dividend imputations credits would stop profits of these being double-taxed if the businesses were outside the charity regime.
  
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  September 28, 2026 12:57pm
Maggy Wassilieff

Hope for our future?

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/on-the-up-hawkes-bay-10-year-old-renee-kundu-wins-the-greattalk-national-speech-competition/6FJRBV3RINFXPPA55ZGOBJFVTY/

Impressive 10 year-old… not interested in NZ’s victim culture.

(her speech is the end of the column)
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September 28, 2026 10:58am
- imalwaysright
  
  Thanks MW,
  She is a welcome oasis in todays political postings.
  
  3 0
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  September 28, 2026 2:24pm
Prince

TVNZ last night had a ‘vox-pop’ (?) on public reaction to Labour’s tertiary fees giveaway.
Strange how all those interviewed would be of an age and appearance to benefit from the policy.
No taxpayer, or former student who have had to pay in full appeared.
Typical TVNZ – decide the result you want, then choose and edit the opinions to get that result.
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September 28, 2026 4:20pm

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